Janson Junk didn't need much. One hit allowed over five innings was enough to set the tone as the Miami Marlins held the St. Louis Cardinals to three hits in a 4-1 win Wednesday in Miami.
Junk, who improved to 1-2 on the season, walked one and struck out two before being lifted after just 56 pitches. Five relievers handled the rest. Andrew Nardi worked the sixth, Anthony Bender retired three in the seventh, and Michael Petersen struck out the side in a perfect eighth. Lake Bachar handled the ninth until Ivan Herrera led off with a home run to cut the deficit to 4-1. Pete Fairbanks came on and closed it out for his fifth save.
Miami scored first in the second inning against Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy. Owen Caissie hit an RBI single and Jakob Marsee drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0. Marsee added another single in the fourth and Agustín Ramírez drove in a run in the fifth to extend the lead to four. Javier Sanoja finished with three hits for Miami, and Ramírez singled twice on the afternoon.
Leahy finished five innings but allowed four runs on eight hits, walked three, struck out two and hit a batter. He fell to 2-3 on the season.
St. Louis was playing without regulars Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson, who all had scheduled days off. Miami was also without Kyle Stowers, the club's 2025 All-Star slugger who was activated from the injured list on Sunday. Manager Clayton McCullough said the team is managing Stowers' workload as they rebuild his fitness.
The Marlins head to San Francisco on Friday to open a three-game road series. Sandy Alcantara, 2-2 with a 3.06 ERA, is scheduled to start against Giants right-hander Adrian Houser. The Cardinals open a home series against Seattle the same day, with Andre Pallante taking the ball against George Kirby.
